got copepods?

[Hamilton]

Good Evening...or should I say, Good Morning?!
My hubby has a 75 gal. tank that we got 2nd hand, about 2 yrs old with live rock, sand & water, yellow tang, 2 clowns, and copperband butterfly included. They've survived well for the past 6 yrs: we've upgraded the lighting to SunSystemTekLight and upgraded the hang-on protein skimmer (can't remember the name). We've added snails, an emerald crab & 2 blood shrimp. We also have mushrooms, button & star polyps, and pulsating zenia multiplying nicely, and a little anemone for the clowns...
We've been trying to figure out: what's wrong with this picture?
There's not a single copepod to be found!
I've tried seeding the tank with a couple live rock & sand from my 100gal. tank with sump... nada...even the lil serpent stars I dropped in are M.I.A.
My hubby is not interested in spending anymore money this year...
(we just put in a pool this summer for US to play fishy)
What would y'all recommend to rectify this situation?
Tanks aLot!

 

[yote]

Just because you don't see em,don't mean their not there.But might try looking for them at night using a red lensed flash light.
Keep in mind that pods and serpent stars are nocturnal for the most part.

 

[marcah]

I agree I thought my 45 had none until I was able to locate them crawling right at the sand bed at night, very hard to pick up but they were there..

 

[Hamilton]

Oh no, trust me! there is NOTHING in there!
The tank is sterile! No spaghetti worms, Nothing!
We have had 2 successful tanks for almost 7 years, and I can see the difference!
Seriously, I have been looking and LOOKing, day AND night,
and this one tank has been picked clean, it's scary!
How do I replenish the tank?

 

[Smitty]

+1 Yote and Marcah...they're in there. :)

 

[Hamilton]

why won't you believe me?
The tank is not drilled with no sump, no refugium...
is it not possible that after all these years, the tank could be depleted of pods?

 

[Toolman]

Seed it then :Cheers:

 

[yote]

why won't you believe me?
The tank is not drilled with no sump, no refugium...
is it not possible that after all these years, the tank could be depleted of pods?

How are your corals doing?

Pods spawn within the confines of the rock which makes them less prone to decline through predation.So it's unlikely.Not saying it couldn't happen,just that it's unlikely.

 

[marcah]

my 45 had no sump no refugium and I had trouble finding them but at night I finally found them along the bottom of the sand. like yote said its not necessary to have them without one.. could be but would seem highly unusual..